Without urgent and aggressive action, more patients will be thrust back to a time when simple infections can be deadly. And, the loss of effective antibiotics will undermine treatment of infectious complications in patients with other diseases.

The World Health Organization's Director-General recently warned of the growing challenge of antibiotic resistance in the starkest terms. Responding to this challenge, existing antibiotics must be conserved and novel antibiotics developed.

Because of the overuse of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance is developing all of the time. With microbial evolution outpacing human invention, a nightmare scenario is possible. And this isn't just science fiction.

My concern is that this outbreak is yet another stark warning that we are on the verge of a world where antibiotics will no longer work, and where common bacterial diseases will once again kill unabated.

Why should parents take more chances of their children getting sick because we are squandering their best medicines to fatten animals faster? Is this really what Montanans elected their sole congressman to do?